Door latch



April 20 1926. 1,581,693 4 J. A. SEEHOLZER DOOR LATCH Filed Nov. 1923Patented Apr. 20, 1926.

UNITED 5 STATES noon LATCH,

A n atimi m-ea November s, 1923. sm i'ivo. erases.

To all whomit may concern:

Be it known that 1, Joint A. Sn11:[-Io1.znR, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Detroit, in the county of WVayne and State ofMichigan, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in DoorLatches, o'f which the vfollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to door latches, and has as one of its objects to-provide a latch which will be practically concealed when the dooris-closed and whichwillsecurely hold thedoor in closed position and yetpermit of it being ;1eadily;opened and again closed. Another object ofthe invention is to provide adoor latch so, constructed thatit willbeunnecessary to :turn'any knob, handle, or other operating devices orotherwise actuate thesame, for the purpose of releasing the latch, itbeing only necessary to push or pull uponthe door to open the sa 1ne,andthe latch being automatic in its action to latch the door upon reolosingthereof.

Another object of the invention is to pro- .Vldfi a-door latch which maybe manufac tured ata veryloW-cost, and which will'be ,sim-ple' anddurable in construction and not liable to any disarrangement or improperfunctioning of its parts.

- Another object of' he invention is .toso.

.lclonstruct the latch that if. desired it may constitute'means for vlinitinggthe movement {of .thedoor to closed position sothatitrwill be.unnecessaryrto employ thewusual stop bead upon the :door. frame or anyother means foryarresting the movement of the "door-toward closedposition, at the time; such position is reached. p In the accompanyingdrawings; .Figure 1 is-aperspectiveview of one form of the latchembodying the invention mounted upon a door anddoorframe; I

Figure 2 is a detail plan view of the latch, the door and frame beingshown in :section; Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 illustrating aslight modification of the invention; 7

Figure 4 is-fa ,view similar --to Figure 2 illustrating afurthermodification ofrthe in-t vention; V i i Figure 5 is :aview [similartofFigure 2 illustrating a further modification of the invention; I t

Figure 6 is a similar view illustrating a still further modification. Hv

The latch embodying the invention comprises a latch member which isindicated in general by the numeral 1, and a keeper,

member indicated in general by the numeral 2. on red "to the free edgeof the door a'nd coinprises a plate one end of which constitutes an.attaching portion indicated bythetnumeral '3, this portion ,beingprovided ,With

openings -.to receive securing sc'rewsfl which $5 I arethreaded into thesaid treejedgeof the door, the edge .of the door beingpreferablyrecessedso asto receive the attaching portion with its outwardlypresented side flush The latch member is adapted to be se- 1 Withtheedge face of the door as clearly v illustrated in Figure 2 ofthedrawings. Preferably :the attaching portion 3 is'.of

such length that it will terminate short ,of

theouter face of flih door and for this reason the latch will vbeinvisible from without.

The plate comprising the latch membenl has a portion '5 which extendsbeyond the attaching portion 3 .andlwhich has its free end turned backupon itself as at 6v so as to ,providea latch head 7 the .freeiedgeofthis portion preferably. contacting the face of, the portion15 oftheflat'ch member, Thehead'7 of the'latch is therefore of a [more orless closed elliptical form and exteriorly it, is, ,of course,' roundedin a transversedirection. V *Thegkeeper member Qlikewise comprises aplate, one end portion of Whiclrconstitutes an attaching portionindicated'by the numeral 8 and which portion ,is' provided with openingsr01- the passage of screws 9 whereby it is secured to the side otthedoor :frame, the doorframebeingpreferably recessed to receive theattaching portion of the keeper member with its'outwardly ,pre-

sented .face flush withthe faceof the'said side of'the-doorframe.Theportion of the plate beyond the attachingportion Sis defleet-edoutwardly, .as indicatedby the numeral. 10 .so as to provide aroundedshoulder 11, and beyond this shoulderthe plate is bentupon itself toprovide-a vsubstantially snugly receivethehead 7 ot" the latch memher 1,the 'free end of the platebeing deflected laterally outwardly "withrespect to .bpen-socket ".12 ,interiorlyof a contour to.litselfposs'esses a degree or resiliency and is and at a pointsubstantially opposite the shoulder 11, on a curved line as indicated bythe numeral 13 so as to provide a locking shoulderbehind which thelocking head 7 may engage when the door is closed and the latch parts 1and 2 are brought into coacting relation. I 1 By reference to thedrawings and from the foregoing description it will now be understoodthat when the door is swung to closed position, the head 7 of ofthelatch member 1 will ride against the shoulder 11 of the keeper member2'and be directed into the socket 12 of.the said kecper member untilthehead 7 j'seats behind the shoulder 13 whereupon the parts will beinterlocked asfshownin Figure 2. Thepart's 1 and 2 are, of course, ofresilientmetal and it will be evident that they will be securelyheldinterlocked until pressure is exerted or a pull exertedupon the doorsufficient to effect their mutual disengagement whereupon the door maybe swung to openposition. It will likewise "be understood that thethroat of the socket 12 as definedby'the spacebetween the' shoulder 10and the shoulder '13 is, in the separated. relationship oft-he parts,

[of a width less than "the "transverse dimension ofthe head 7 'of'thelatch member 1 so that the said head 7 will be firmly gripped bythewalls of thesocket 12 when the parts are interlocked. It will also beobserved that inasmuch as the latch head 7 first rides over 'the'roundedshoulder '11 before enterdesired.

In the form of the invention shownin Figure 3 of the drawings, the latchhead which, in this form, is indicated by the numeral 14, is notentirely closed but is, on

the other'hanchleft slightly open as indicatedlby the numeral 15 sotha-tthe head in more or less compressible. Likewise in this form of theinvention the bend corresponding to the bend 13 in the keeper member 2andindicated'by the numeral 16, is more .ae ute. In this constructionthe head of the latch member willbe heldmore'securely althoughnodifiiculty will be experiencedin closing or 'openingthe door due to thefact 'fthat the saidhead, being open, is more or less compressible.

The form of the invention shown in Fige 4: of the, drawings is identicalwith the form shown in Figure 3 except that the bend corresponding tothe bend 16 in the said I form shown in Figure 3 and which bend inFigure ,4 is indicated by the numeral 17, is more or less rounded so astoprovide a rounded shoulder substantially like the v shoulder shown inFigure 2 and indicated by the numeral 13. In this form of the inventionthe head of the latch member, indicated by the numeral 18, is open andof substantially the same rounded contour as the head 14 of the latchmember shown in Fig. 3. It will be evidentat this pointthat the latchand keeper members shown in 'Figs. 2, 3 and '41- may be interchanged-and employed in connection with each other'or some one of the threeforms may be adapted to the exclu'sion of the other two; The principalof the invention remaining the same however inall, three embodiments. I

In that form of theinvention shown in Figure 5 of the drawing, the latchmember 7 is indicated by the numeral 19, and the keeper number bythenumeral 20. The coacting parts of these members aresubstantiallyidentical' with the coacting parts of the correspondingmembers in'the previously described forms of the invention but in thisinstance each member 19' and 20 is provided at the inner end of itsshank portion with a right angularly turned attaching base indicated'by' the numeral 21, the members "being designed to be secured'tothe'door and itsframe .in the manner-clearly illustrated in the saidfigure.

In the form of the invention-shown in Figure'G of the drawings thelatch' "and keeper members are indicated respectively by the numerals 22and 23,-; andtheir coacting portions are, as-inthe previouslydescribedform of l the invention, of substantially thesame correspondingconstruction. 7

Thisyform is, however, designed' prim'arily for use upon doorsand doorframes where the frame ispro'vided withda stop piece or strip for thedoor, indicated by the numeral 24. Inthis embodiment-theshank portion ofeach of the members is'form'ed with-a right angularly turned bend 25vand with an attaching portion 26 located at 1 right angles to the bend-25, the outer end of the laterally with respect to the attaching portionso as to adapt the members to accommodate the piece 24:, as clearlyshown-in the said figure. 7

shank portion of each member being offset" Having thus described theinvention, what is claimed as new is: v

A closure fastenercomprlsmg-a latchmem- 'ber and. a keepermember, saidlatch member being adapted to be secured to a closure and extend-fromthe inner face thereofand havfling its" free end provided with a headrounded longitudinally of the latch, and said keeper: being formed. froma strip of resilient material bent intermediate its portions serving toguide the head of said length to provide an attaching portion and latchmember into said socket when the an offset portion, said offset portionbeing closure'is shut and said arms being adapted bent back upon itselfintermediate its length to frictionally grip the head and yieldably 5 toprovide a U.-shaped socket having convergretain the head in the socket.v

ing inner and outer gripping arms terminat- In testimony whereof I affiXmy signature. ing in flaring end portions, said flaring end JOHN A.SEEHOLZER. [L -1

